Backstory
On a cold, dark January evening, the text message went something like, “Hey Leslie, how about being a dessert chef for the Field to Table dinner at the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Rendezvous this year?” My answer was a hard “Let me think about it,” which ultimately led to a “yes.” Almost immediately I panicked; it was January and I had nothing to forage to make this dessert! So, through January and on through February friends ate many versions of what became a very solid recipe that I was proud to serve to 96 dinner guests at the Rendezvous in Missoula. I have to nod to a few North Fork valley chefs for their inspiration and a sugar maker from back home who emphasized a lesson in barometric pressure to get the syrup right.
Now that it’s June, it’s the perfect time to keep an eye open for neon green new growth spruce tips, my foraged element for the Uncompahgre Gaulette. Enjoy!
Uncompahgre Gaulette
French Belgian Waffle Cookies with Mascarpone & Spruce Tip Syrup
French Belgian Waffle Cookies (Gaulettes) - adapted from Rebecca Franklin
Yield: 72 cookies
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
3 C brown sugar
6 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
7 C rouge de bordeaux flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
- Cream butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts until smooth
- In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt
- Lower your mixer speed and pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients until completely mixed together.
- Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour
- Preheat waffle iron
- Place 1 Tbsp of the dough into each section, close the waffle iron lid
- When browned, place the cookies on a rack to cool
Mascarpone Cheese
Yield: 2 cups
2 C of heavy cream
1 Tbsp lemon juice
- In a saucepan, bring the cream to a steady 180° F for 3 minutes, start timing when you reach 180° F (this takes a while, don’t boil your cream)
- After 3 minutes at 180° F, add the lemon juice, stir, and keep the mixture at 180° F for an additional 3 minutes
- Take the mixture off of the heat to let cool to room temperature
- Line a strainer with 3 layers of cheesecloth then set into a glass bowl, pour in cooled mixture over the cheesecloth and place in the fridge overnight (whey will drain into the bowl and separate from the cheese)
- Once your cheese has firmed to a spreadable consistency remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container. (If your cheese hasn’t set firm, let it continue to set while in the cheesecloth and strainer for up to another day)
- This cheese is meant to be piped onto the gaulette cookie
Spruce Tip Syrup (adapted from Hank Shaw)
Yield: 1 pint
2 C water
2 C sugar
2 C young spruce tips
Safflower oil
- Grease inside walls of a saucepan with safflower oil
- Add sugar and water and heat (7° F above your boiling point) to make a simple syrup to the desired viscosity
- Turn off the heat and add rough chopped spruce tips to mixture, cover, and steep
- Let cool to room temperature then place the entire pot into the fridge for up to 48 hours
- Strain spruce tips from your syrup
- Store syrup in a container in your fridge
Pipe mascarpone cheese onto a fully cooled waffle cookie, top with a fresh raspberry, and drizzle spruce tip syrup on top just before you enjoy.
About Leslie Kaminski
Proud Dirtball Debutant of Public Lands and Waters!